A Book by it's Cover
by Raphaelfanguy4real
Summary: what if Baxter Stockman was never an enemy of the turtles? what if he actually became their friend? this is how it would have happened. but please keep an open mind about this, lots of people never see past people's covers.


" _He could be going to, church."_

" _Wearing powered battle armor? What kind of church is that?"_

" _A super awesome one."_ I tune my brothers out as I look at the man below us. His technology is amazing, it only needs a few adjustments and it could be unstoppable.

"That guy needs a beat down." Leo declares, my head snaps toward him, but I don't argue. It seems to me that we should help him, maybe ask him about that suit. But Leo is our leader, so we have to do what he says. We jump down and surround him.

"Whoa!" he says, "are you guys, turtles?" finally, a villain who knows what we are the first time!

"Yes! We're the turtles of justice!" Leo says, we all look at him.

"Wow, just, wow." raph says Leo scowls, he turns to the guy.

"Get ready for a beat down!" he gives the signal and we attack, raph chucks him into a trash can, I flinch, remembering how that feels from a few years ago.

"You will never stop me!" the guy shouts as we leave, "this isn't the first time I've been thrown in the trash! And it most certainly will be the last!" I glance back at him, maybe we've just made a horrible mistake, and a new enemy for ourselves. When my brothers get back in the lair, they're super happy that they didn't get caught, they don't notice that I sneak back out. I scan the alley we left him in, and see him climbing out of the dumpster, he falls and I help him to his feet. He yanks away from me.

"Whoa! Back off!" he snarls, I see the t-pod I made earlier laying on the ground and I grind my teeth, Mikey…

"It's OK!" I say, putting down my Bo-staff, "I don't want to hurt you." he narrows his eyes.

"You already did."

"I didn't want to." I admit, "but Leo, the blue masked one, he's the leader, he can be a bonehead sometimes." the guy eyes me and sighs. He fiddles with his suit.

"This stinking saw won't work." he complains i take the gauntlet.

"This is amazing technology." i exclaim, he smiles.

"Thank you, i made it myself." he boasts, i rewire a few of the cables.

"So, what were you doing?" i ask, he hesitates.

"I, was getting revenge." he admits. "The people who live here are total jerks!" i raise my eyebrow.

"Well, revenge doesn't really help." i point out, "just ignore them" he sighs.

"That's hard." he says i shrug.

"What's your name?" i ask he looks at me skeptically. I smile at him.

"Baxter Stockman." he says, "you?"

"Donatello." i reply "i can help you with your suit, this tech is super cool!" Baxter looks at me warily. He seems to feel like this is a trap, I would feel the same if I was in his situation.

"So," he says, "you don't like your team?" I frown,

"Well, that's not what i meant." I say, "they're my brothers, but I know that they have flaws, Leo should ask more questions before casting judgment." he nods slowly.

"Ok, but, you know you are a great scientist."

"Thank you." I say, flattered,

"I think we would be unstoppable together." he continues, my brow creases. "We're the smartest minds of the world Donatello, think about it!" I shake my head, handing his new gauntlet back.

"I think I'm good." I say, "I have a team."

"Well," he frowns,"at least meet me here, tomorrow night, OK? Just To let you think."

"Well," I sigh, "OK, but my answer will be the same."

"Sure, sure," Baxter said, "just, just think about it." I look into his eyes and see the longing, he needs a friend. I realize, that's what this is about.

"I will," I say, "but even if I don't leave my brother's, we'll always be friends." his face lights up.

"Ok! Thanks! Meet me here!" I nod, and jump onto a rooftop, I see the smile on his face, it reaches even the eyes that were so cold a few minutes ago, and I know I've done the right thing.

The next day, we're all super tired, I'm even more tired than my brothers. Luckily, from my habit of staying up late, Splinter doesn't notice. He does though, get mad at us for being tired, which makes no sense, and then gives us the day off, which makes less sense. I go to my lab and start working on the t-pod, Mikey dented it when he dropped it, I bite my lip nervously. Does he know he dropped it? If he does, and I show him, he'll know i went back out. I should probably keep this a secret for now…

"Hey d'" said brother exclaims, bumping the table, i hurry to tuck the t-pod away, pretending to fix the mess he just made.

"Aren't you supposed to be asleep?" I ask, annoyed, Mikey looks crestfallen.

"I thought we could watch TV together Donnie."

"Oh," I feel bad for snapping at him, but he did drop the t-pod yesterday, "I'm busy right now." i say, "sorry Mikey."

"Ok." Mikey turns sadly away, but he's milking it now, i can tell.

"Use your puppy dog eyes on someone else." I snap, "I said I'm busy!" this makes him actually sad.

"I'm sorry." he whispers and hurries out of my lab, I sigh and slouch back in my chair, why did i say no? Is it really because of the t-pod? I know I'm not actually busy. No, it's because of what Baxter said last night.

 _We're the smartest minds in the world Donatello! Together, we would rule!_

I sigh, is he right? Should i really be living in the sewers, using this dumpy lab equipment? I shake my head.

"Stop it." I tell myself, "you could never desert your brothers like that."

That night, I meet Baxter in the alley, he's almost overjoyed that I'm there.

"Hi!" he exclaims, I raise a hand in greeting.

"Hey Baxter." I reply, he grins.

"You know, I've never," he frowns, "this is stupid but, I've never had a friends before." I look back at how my brothers treat me sometimes, I totally understand how he feels.

"I totally get that." I say to him, "so, I did think about your offer, but…" i hesitate, "i can't leave my team." Baxter's face falls. "But," I add, "you could…." I sigh, Leo is going to kill me, "you can help us."

"What?" Baxter looks surprised, "but, they hate me!"

"No," I say, and frown, is he right? "They just...well...you were breaking and entering Baxter. We're heroes, like Leo says, they don't like villains."

"Oh." he says, "well, I'll stop being a villain, if it means I can help your team."

"Deal." I say, shaking his hand, "but one problem, Master splinter doesn't like people finding out where we live, so you can't come tonight. But I will ask him tomorrow, tell him i found an ally,and ask him if you can come, ok?"

"All right, I'll see you tomorrow night." he replies, "but, you look really tired, so you should probably go home." I sigh, a little relieved.

"Yeah, OK." I say, "thanks Baxter." he nods and leaves before me tonight, I watch him leave, i know i did the right thing, but as soon as i tell someone about this the better. I'll tell master splinter first thing tomorrow.

The next day, I get up early, hoping to catch splinter before his morning meditation, I just manage it.

"Sensei." I say, coming into the dojo just as he closes his eyes, they open again.

"Donatello." he says, sounding pleasantly surprised, "what is wrong?"

"N, nothing sensei." I say, kneeling in front of him, "sensei, I have to tell you something."

"Yes?" he asks, I feel guilty, telling him the whole story will get Leo and the others in trouble too, but it can't wait.

"I want to start by apologizing." i say, "because two nights ago, when we were, uh, grounded, we all snuck out to skate."

"I know." splinter says, I stare at him.

"Oh, OK, well, we saw this guy in powered battle Armour, it wasn't that powerful," I hesitate, "and we kinda, fought him and raph threw him in a dumpster."

"Yes?"

"Well, later i went back out, I was impressed by his technology, it just needed a few tweaks."

"I see." splinter said, I wince, he doesn't even sound mad.

"Well, he's really nice. He, he tried to get me to abandon you guys though, wanted me to help him with his tech. I refused," sensei nods approvingly, "but sensei, he's lonely." I explain, "I told him I'd still be his friend, and, I thought if maybe he stopped you know, being a villain, he could help me with my lab."

"Ah." sensei said, "That is why you really came." I nod. "Well Donatello," he says,

"Yes?" I hang my head, waiting for him to scold me.

"I am proud of you." my head snaps up, eyes wide, "you looked deeper into what your brothers thought was just a vandal, you have made an enemy a friend." he looks into my eyes. "Are you sure he can be trusted?"

"Hai sensei." I breathe, shocked that this is happening.

"Then you may, in fact, bring him here to meet our family, if i do not think he can be trusted, well, we will figure something out."

"Thank you sensei!" I gasp, "I, I was sure you'd say no!"

"Maybe Leonardo was not the only one to judge a book by it's cover." sensei said, smiling, "now let me meditate, it is the only way I deal with your brother's constant noise."

"Hai sensei." I say, and bow. I get to my feet and leave, much happier than a few moment earlier. I bump into raph, who's working on defeating that hanging dummy he has, one would have thought he'd be strong enough, but no, he can't defeat it. I smile at my own joke and he glares at me.

"Why are you so happy today?" he asks, visibly annoyed,

"Because my dopamine levels are higher." I say, and walk away, chuckling, he was asking for that one.

"Nerd." he says as I go to my lab, i ignore him.

"Baxter!" I say, running up to my friend. "You can come!" his face lights up.

"Really?" I nod, "when?"

"Today! If you want." I tell him, he looks around,

"So, where exactly do you live?" I chuckle and go to the manhole.

"Down here, sorry about the smell, you'll get used to it." he follows me down and we soon arrive at the lair. "Guys!" I call, "come meet the guy!" My three brothers all come to the entrance, and each of their faces has a different reaction. Raph's face, obviously, transforms into a mask of rage. Mikey's face shows how confused he is, and Leo looks sympathetically at me, something I did not expect.

"Why is that guys here?" raph demands, splinter presses a pressure point for a few seconds and he spasms, then slouches his shoulders.

"It's cool." I say, "he's gonna be my new, lab partner."

"Hi." Baxter says nervously.

"Hey dude!" Mikey exclaims, "where's your battle Armour?"

"Would you like me to wear weapons here?" he asks, and I laugh. Mikey nods reasonably.

"Makes sense, I'm actually really confused, but OK." he says, Leo looks at me.

"When did you…"

"The same night." i reply, "that's also when I found, this!" I hold up my t-pod, "Mikey." he chuckles nervously.

"Oops?" he stammers. I roll my eyes.

"Look Leo, it turns out that throwing people in dumpsters before even talking to them is a bad idea." I raise an eye ridge, "maybe you should listen to me more."

"Well," Leo says, "sorry Don, and, Baxter." Baxter shrugs.

"No hard feelings." he replies, Leo smiles.

"Then welcome to the team."

 _I know, i know this is super cheesy. But i actually expected either Donnie or Mikey to befriend Baxter in the actual episode, and for him to become an ally, so ha! Ha! Anyway, this just is my way of pointing out how simple acts can go a long way, like changing the entire fate of a guy, or a TV show. I hope you like it, and I welcome all reviews! Thanks so much for reading!_


End file.
